The number that decides a road trip is not zero to sixty. Out of Spec Reviews put the base long range Porsche Cayenne Electric through its 10 percent challenge, a test that plugs the car in the moment it drops to 10 percent state of charge, allows exactly 15 minutes of charging, then holds 80 mph on a loop until the battery is back down to 10 percent. In roughly 91 degree Fahrenheit heat in North Carolina, the video reports the car went from 10 to 78 percent in that quarter hour, taking on about 80 kWh at an average of 320 kW for 33 dollars, then covered 185.8 miles before the test ended. The host says it is the most energy the channel has ever added in this test, and the second best distance it has recorded. The car tested is the base long range version, listed in the video with 108 kWh usable from a pack Porsche quotes at 113 kWh gross, on aero wheels, at roughly 125,000 dollars as specified.
Porsche's own material for the Cayenne Electric claims 10 to 80 percent in under 16 minutes on an 800 volt DC charger at up to roughly 400 kW, and US cars carry a NACS port for DC fast charging with a separate J1772 socket for AC. The video's result lands inside that manufacturer claim under conditions that should have hurt it, which is the part buyers should take away. The harder caveat is the equipment at the other end of the cable. The host notes the car sat at around 500 amps for most of the session, so a station needs both the voltage and a cable rated for that current to produce these numbers, and plenty of nominally fast chargers will not. The other thing this test does not promise is a typical day. Arriving at 10 percent with a chilled pack at an empty high power site is a best case, and the gap between that and a busy station in traffic is where most road trip frustration actually lives.
According to the channel, the Cayenne preconditioned the pack well below ambient on the approach and arrived at 71 degrees Fahrenheit, then pulled roughly 350 kW almost immediately and peaked near 386 kW. Pack temperature climbed quickly to about 135 degrees Fahrenheit, and the host says the car then modulated power to hold that ceiling, settling in the 250 to 290 kW range while cabin cooling ran, as the test requires. On the highway leg the video reports around 2.6 miles per kWh at a steady 80 mph, which the host calls unusually strong for an SUV this size and slightly better than the channel's most recent Taycan figure. That car still holds the channel's record at 193 miles, though the video points out it ran at around 48 degrees Fahrenheit and at elevation, while a Taycan Sport Turismo managed 158 miles. The host adds that this particular press car had a connectivity fault Porsche flagged before it was delivered, which affected preconditioning arrival estimates during the loop. He also notes the platform supports up to 600 kW of regenerative braking, enough that almost all of his slowing on the loop was done without the friction brakes.
Bottom line: If you road trip often and a 125,000 dollar SUV is on the table, this is the one to buy, and it is not close. The more revealing detail is what actually limited it. The Cayenne did not run out of charging speed, it ran out of cooling, in summer, with the air conditioning on, and still beat its own maker's estimate. That is a good problem to have and a sign of how far the ceiling has moved in two years. The result worth waiting for is the cold weather rerun, because this car looks like it has more left in it.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.